1. Several hundred Turkish soldiers have been deployed to provide training for Iraqi troops in an area near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is under Islamic State control.

2. Military and diplomatic sources have said that Israel has quietly tested ways of defeating an advanced air-defence system that Russia has deployed in the Middle East which could limit Israel's ability to strike in Syria or Iran.

3. German lawmakers on Friday approved plans for Germany to take on a direct role in the battle against the Islamic State group in Syria, answering France’s appeal for help.

4. This week, the Momotomo volcano in Nicaragua is erupting for the first time since 1905, spitting lava and a huge plume of ash and smoke over nearby Lake Managua.

5. Infrastructure, Energy and Water Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Wednesday that the UN atomic agency’s report on Iran’s nuclear activities is “far from comforting” to Israel.

The prophetic passage of Scripture that we are looking at today is Isaiah 11:11-12: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people...”

Our second coming quote for today is from John Piper. He said, "The eager expectation for Christ is simply a sign that we love him and believe in him authentically. There is a phony faith that wants only escape from hell, but has no desire for Christ. That does not save. And it does not produces an eager expectation for Christ to come. It would rather that Christ not come for as long as possible so that it can have as much of this world as possible. But the faith that really holds on to Christ as treasure and hope and joy is the faith that makes us long for Christ to come, and that is the faith that saves."